Ellsbury ended up 4-for-5 on his 29th birthday, and Dustin Pedroia went 3-for-4 with a homer and two RBI for Boston.

The Yankees managed to work seven walks against Red Sox starter Jon Lester, but they settled for three runs, even though they had two on with none out in the first, third and sixth innings.

The game got freaky in the bottom of the seventh. Ryan Kalish started the frame with an ugly popup bunt single that fell in over the head of the pitcher but in front of Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano. Pedro Ciriaco then tried to sacrifice him along, only to reach first when catcher Russell Martin mishandled the bunt a foot in front of home plate (it almost certainly would have rolled foul given the backspin on the ball).

Mike Aviles then became the third straight Red Sox hitter to attempt a bunt, only to miss on two stabs. He struck out swinging. That was it for Hiroki Kuroda. Boone Logan came in and induced a grounder to the right side from Ellsbury, but he didn’t bother covering first because he thought Cano would play it, not the first baseman. He was wrong, and the Red Sox had the bases loaded with one out. Logan was pulled, but Joba Chamberlain came in from there and retired Daniel Nava and Dustin Pedroia to preserve a 3-3 tie.

The Yankees were stifled by the Red Sox pen from there. They finished with just six hits on the night, compared to 12 for Boston. David Robertson took his seventh loss when he gave up Ellsbury’s hit in the ninth.

Baltimore’s win was much easier than Boston’s. The Orioles scored off all five Rays pitchers on the night and handed rookie Matt Moore his 10th loss. J.J. Hardy was the star, going 4-for-5 with two homers and five RBI. Still, it may have been a costly loss for Baltimore, as starter Jason Hammelreinjured his knee in the fourth inning, forcing him to leave the game.

Had to laugh at how quickly FOXSports fell all over themselves to update the standings so quickly, putting the Orioles in front of the Yankees in the standings. Anti-Yankee bias once again at work in Jealousville.

Actually, because the Orioles have a better league record than the Yankees, they are ahead. It’s not enough to give them the division outright and consign the Yankees to the wildcard if the season ended today but they would have home field in a game to settle the division winners. This falls under things you learn from wikipedia while desperately hoping Yankees have dropped into the wild card position after today’s painful loss to the upstart Red Sox.

Best Red Sox win in a long time. Added bonus, they didn’t allow a home run to the Yankees. It’s been home run derby for the Yankees against the Red Sox this year.

The season is far from over…well except for you Red Sox fans, that is…for all intents and purposes anyway.

teaspoon1731 - Sep 12, 2012 at 1:04 AM

Bozo, no where is there an Anti-Yankee bias. Every news place flies under the “let me bow down at the knees of the yankees” philosophy. What you’re seeing as bias is the Yankees kinda sucking right now. Sorry buddy, it happens.

False. Baseball media thrives on Boston and NYY. Those two teams get more coverage than the rest of the league combined. Sad fact, but true.

Also, the yankees blowing what was it, a ten game lead in the division? Fifteen?… that counts as kinda sucking right now. I didn’t say the Yankees suck (despite my obvious feelings on the subject). I just kinda hit you with some truth there. They’ll still make the playoffs whether they win the division or not. Calm down tiger.

The seeming reluctance of the national media to acknowledge the existence of Baltimore – sandwiched as it is between the hegemonic metropolises of Washington and Philadelphia – is not a product of “bias.” The Gloryholes fly below the radar because Peter Angelos had their uniforms impregnated with teflon and woven out of carbon fiber, like a stealth fighter. Peter Angelos is a genius.

I appreciate that the Yanks had a pretty epic collapse, but do we really need a full game analysis article every time the standings change in the AL East? It’s not just HBT; everyone does it. Yet the same thing happening in the AL Central gets nowhere near as much coverage. Or when the Giants overtook the Dodgers.

It’s not quite NATitude, but people seem excited to see a different team emerge from the AL East for the first time in years. I think some of the Baltimore excitement is misplaced as anti-Yankee sentiment when it is really more over cheering for an underdog.

madhatternalice - Sep 12, 2012 at 12:56 AM

Funny moment at the top of Sportscenter tonight where the anchor said, “And tonight, we lead off with Orioles/Rays, not Yankees/Red WSox. We know. There’ll be an official investigation, I’m sure.”

It’s amusing to watch Yankee fans scream that the media is biased against them. When in reality every other MLB fanbase knows that the media would bend over backwards ten fold in order to provide cover for them.